


The Campfire

by Phillys_Surprise_Mechanic



Category: Dragon Quest XI
Genre: Grief/Mourning, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:09:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29770476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phillys_Surprise_Mechanic/pseuds/Phillys_Surprise_Mechanic
Summary: Act II, after the events in Arboria, we find two characters who have each suffered a loss, though neither is able to fully communicate with the other what they're feeling.
Relationships: Graig |Hendrick, Hendrick & Serena
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	The Campfire

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first short story I've written in about 4 years, I'm just doing this for fun. There's very little that's held back here but there's no graphic descriptions of any kind.

The sight. 

The sight of her sister’s body, fading away. 

Seeing her sacrifice, saving everyone even as her own life was taken from her. 

Something not easily forgotten.

  
  


The sight.

The sight of his childhood friend cutting him down.

The sight of his king, possessed by a demon.

Something not easily understood.   
  


The group had left Arboria. They had all seen the events in the grove, seen Veronica’s body fade away. Only The Luminary had witnessed Serena’s song of tribute late in the evening, after the burning of Veronica’s staff. Each grieved in their own way, though all tried to hide it. Headed now for their next destination though the jovial talking that the group normally had was gone, replaced by a dark silence. Even The Great Sylvando seems to be in a dark mood. Everyone now had a personal reason to defeat Mordegon on top of their more altruistic reasons. Though one member seems to have perhaps a different reason than the rest. 

“Darlings, it appears to be nightfall, perhaps we should stop and make camp?” The sound of someone speaking breaks the spell of sadness on the party, and everyone agrees. The party sets about their various tasks, building the fire, making dinner, setting the spells to keep the monsters away. Something seemed to be missing, though nobody could figure out what. 

As the night wore on, Serena found herself drawn towards feeding the fire, not something she normally did. Tonight however, she was doing it without a second thought.  _ “Why am I all of a sudden drawn to... oh. That was what she did, after I went to sleep.” _ Her hand suddenly shaking, she manages to set the log into the fire, stumbling back toward her bedroll.  _ “Will I always feel her inside? Or will I forget her, and think it part of myself?” _ A blanket appears around her shoulders, startling her. It was too big to belong to anyone but

“Sir Hendrick?” A tall figure sits beside her, sitting quietly to not wake the others. “Yes young one, I noticed your hand shaking and wondered if you were cold.” She had not heard this level of softness or care in his voice, nor did she expect it from a man of his size or reputation. Yet he almost sounded as if he were her father. She looks up at him, looking into his eyes for the first time. Though a man of steel, he seemed almost, matronly in this moment. “No, Sir Hendrick, my hand simply shook.” Shaking her head slightly she broke away from his gaze. Minutes passed before he said, “You miss her terribly, don’t you?” She looked back to him. “Your sister, you miss her greatly, yes?” She nodded, a knot forming in her throat. “I understand. And you were denied a proper goodbye by forces you could not control?” She nodded again, tears beginning to well up. But as she looked back to him, she could see the same pain and tears in his eyes. 

“I, too, lost one I loved that day. He... was taken from me without the chance of a goodbye.” He looked deep into the heart of the fire, its glow taking him back to the heart of Yggdrasil. “Seeing what Jasper, the man I considered the family I never got to have..” he trailed off. He raises a gloved hand to wipe his eyes, but stops. He looks back to Serena, “Your sister, she was braver and gave greater sacrifice than any person in the history of this kingdom.” 

_ “What do I say? He pursued us for as long as I’ve known The Luminary, and yet now he’s our most valuable companion.” _ She suddenly reaches out to him for a hug, something that would’ve been more like her twin sister than herself. As she embraces him, she feels him shaking. If she didn’t know better, she’d say he was sobbing. 

“I couldn’t save him from himself. We are.. were brothers. He’s gone now, and I don’t know if I can bring him back.” Tears falling freely now. “We always helped each other, always sought to help each other overcome challenges…” 

“That’s how my sister and I were,” says Serena, interrupting him, though entirely by accident. Hendrick looks up at her. “She was always much more brash and loud than I was, and I, much more reserved. But this always helped us get past our differences, and yet now,” she pauses, tears start for her as well. “And now she’s a part of me, but I am scared that I’ll forget her. I’ll forget who she was, I’ll forget who I used to be.” 

Hendrick reaches out to her for a hug, and they just sit there quietly for what feels like hours, just letting their emotions out. “Sir Hendrick? Do you know any songs?” Taken aback by the question, he struggles to think. 

“Young one, there is only one that I think will help either of us at this moment. It’s a song that I remember from my mother. Or, rather from the Queen of Heliodor from when I was very young.” He begins to sing a lullaby, in a soft tone. Singing it to Serena, he feels as if he was back in his room as a child, listening to the Queen helping him with his nightmares...

  
  
_ Sleep soft my little loved one, _

_ Lay you down your head, _

_ Your mother's here to let you _

_ Sleep soundly in your bed _

_ No monsters here can hurt you, _

_ That, I will make sure _

_ So you can dream forever _

_ Your dreams forever more _

She feels her eyes closing, memories of her and Veronica listening to both their mother and father singing to them every night before bed flooding back…

As she falls asleep, Hendrick lays her down into her bedroll, doing his best to tuck her into the large blanket without waking her. Before walking back over to his bivouac, he places a log on the fire and makes a sign before it.  _ “ _

_ In honor of Veronica.” _


End file.
